I got to stop buying these MkII's, six of them now, that's crazy but I can't stop.

indy1919

May 30, 2012, 12:19 PM

Greetings, Very nice Rifles.. Love the Australian MK IIIs.. Love the dark Wood. I do not know why they did that but the Australians, God Bless them, always do things a little different down there with their firearms.

So does anyone know are the early '40s Lithgow Mk III are the last Mk IIIs made????

Ignition Override

May 30, 2012, 11:41 PM

Well-done!

The reason I bought my first #4 in '09 was to limit potential wear on my first #5 "Jungle".
But the #4 also infected me with a different strain of the Enfield Virus, and now the count is six Enfields!

SIGSHR

May 31, 2012, 06:41 PM

Ian Skennerton's book is pretty much THE reference on Lee-Enfields.

madcratebuilder

June 1, 2012, 05:39 AM

So does anyone know are the early '40s Lithgow Mk III are the last Mk IIIs made????

1945-1946, I'm not really positive.

I'm still trying to determine what this Lithgow wood was been treated/covered with. I swear it's been sealed with hot tar.

indy1919

June 4, 2012, 11:40 AM

Well you got me going with what kind a wood was used for the Lithgow Enfields it seems it was

Coachwood

http://www.303british.com/id49.html

And low and behold another name for Coachwood, is Tarwood...

indy1919

June 4, 2012, 11:44 AM

The world of guns is so Large & Strange.... came across this on the way to other things, And was blown away.. did not know of this variation.. to cool for words

So does anyone know are the early '40s Lithgow Mk III are the last Mk IIIs made????

Ishapore in India made Mk IIIs into the 1980s I believe. I have one made in 1963.

gyvel

June 4, 2012, 09:10 PM

I have a .303 (three-oh-three) No. 1 Mk III* Ishapore dated 1986.

madcratebuilder

June 5, 2012, 08:15 AM

Ishapore, RFI, made MkIII's until the late 80's early 90's?? These are pretty nice rifles in general. hard to find one with wood that's in pristine condition. I have a 1963 RFI that has a great bore and metal finish, but the wood could be nicer.

Digging for info on the Lithgow I learned that Lithgow used a 50/50 mix of RLO and creosote to treat the wood. That explains the strange smell and feel this 41 Lithy has.

It appears unusual to find a Lithgow with this finish still intact. Most have been scrubbed with straight linseed oil and steel wool. This removes some of the 'blackness' for lack of a better term.